Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Vol.111, No.21, 5811-5818, 2007
Characteristic differences in the formation of complex coacervate core micelles from neodymium and zinc-based coordination polymers
In this paper we compare the formation of complex coacervate core micelles (C3Ms) from two different tricompontent mixtures, namely neodymium, the bisligand L2EO4 and the poly(cation)-block-poly(neutral) diblock copolymer P2MVP(41)-b-PEO205, and zinc, L2EO4 and P2MVP(41)-b-PEO205 mixed systems. Three sets of titration experiments were carried out for each system: (i) titration of diblock copolymer P2MVP(41)-b-PEO205 with the stoichiometric mixture of metal ions and bisligands, (ii) titration of a mixture of diblock copolymer and bisligand with metal ions, and (iii) titration of a mixture of diblock copolymer and metal ions with bisligands. In all the above three cases, micelles are found to form either in a broad range of charge ratios or in a broad range of metal/bisligand ratios. Upon addition of Nd-2-(L2EO4)(3) coordination polymer to P2MVP(41)-b-PEO205 solution, and upon addition of Nd3+ to a mixture of L2EO4 and P2MVP(41)-b-PEO205, micelles are found to form immediately after the first addition, whereas micelles show up in the similar zinc system only after a certain threshold Zn-(L2EO4) or Zn2+ concentration. This difference can be traced to the different structures of the Nd-2-(L2EO4)(3) and Zn-(L2EO4) coordination compounds. At very low concentrations, Zn-(L2EO4) are ring-like oligomers, but Nd-2-(L2EO4)(3) are larger networks. The network structure favors the formation of coacervate micellar core with P2MVP(41)-b-PEO205. Moreover, excess of Nd3+ ions will break up the C3Ms, while the same amount of Zn2+ has hardly any effect on the C3Ms. The breakdown of C3Ms by Nd3+ is due to the charge inversion of the coordination complex with increasing [Nd3+]/[L2EO4] ratio, which results in repulsive interaction between the coordination complex and the diblock copolymer, whereas no such interaction can occur in the zinc system.